Bradley Beats Alexander with Unanimous Decision

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — Timothy Bradley moved a step closer toward a megafight that could make him a boxing superstar – though he might have to beat Devon Alexander again to get there.

Bradley defended his WBO 140-pound title and took Alexander’s WBC belt, winning a unanimous technical decision after the fight was stopped in the 10th round Saturday night at the Silverdome.

The ringside doctor ruled Alexander couldn’t keep his right eye open and halted the fight at 1:59 of the 10th after an accidental head-butt.

“If that’s the best in the world, that’s weak,” Alexander said. “I couldn’t see, so they had to stop the fight.”

Bradley (27-0) handed Alexander (21-1) his first loss in the biggest fight for each rising star.

“He’ll be a world champion again some day,” Bradley said.

Both fighters took a risk by taking a bout either could lose, but the payoff could be huge.

The 27-year-old Bradley took a step toward a possible fight with Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr. down the road, but WBA super lightweight champion Amir Khan could be his next opponent.

Bradley’s camp said earlier in the week that it would welcome a fight with Khan, if the time was not right for a bout with Mayweather or Pacquiao.

“Khan is probably No. 1 on the list,” Bradley said. “The key name on the list down the road is Manny Pacquiao.”

HBO, though, has a rematch clause in the contract it could exercise to put Bradley of North Palm Springs, Calif., back in the ring with the 23-year-old St. Louis southpaw.

“I want a rematch with Timmy Bradley,” Alexander said.

In a fight that had to be tough to score with each fighter throwing a flurry of punches, the judges all had Bradley ahead in the bout – 97-93, 96-95 and 98-93 – when it was suddenly halted because Alexander’s right eye was burning so much he couldn’t open it.

“I asked Alexander to open his eye three times and he couldn’t,” Dr. Peter Samet said. “I feared temporary nerve damage, so I recommended to stop the fight.”

The beginning that led to the end for Bradley came in the third round when Bradley seemed to land a blow on Alexander’s right eye with a wicked combination of a thumb and head-butt.

The crowd was quiet when referee Frank Garza got between the fighters in the 10th after another head-butt – ruled accidental by Garza – sending Alexander to a corner to take a look at his eye before deferring to a ringside doctor in another corner.

Fans, hoping for a dramatic finish, booed when the fight didn’t go the distance or end convincingly.

“I told the referee that Bradley’s last six opponents had been cut by head-butts,” Cunningham recalled.

Garza, though, insisted the one in the 10th was accidental.

“It was a completely different head-butt than the previous one in the fight,” Garza said. “I stopped the fight after consultation with the ringside physician.”

The former home of the Detroit Lions and Pistons was configured to put the ring in a corner of an end zone, putting curtains up to create a relatively intimate venue with 9,000 seats on the floor and lower bowl. About half those seats seemed to be filled, but the announced attendance was 6,247.

Members of the military, police officers, firefighters, emergency medical service personnel and military veterans were admitted free if they showed up in uniform by the Silverdome’s new owners, who are trying to make the venue viable.

The Toronto-based company that paid $583,000 for the 80,300-seat stadium in 2009 – after it was largely idle for seven years – gave promoters about as much money to land the big-time fight.